Extremely stressed, family illness, my anxiety & now ATOS.

[gazmix]

Hi all

 

I am an only child with elderly parents. My mum has depression, i have quite bad anxiety & my dad has just had a heart attack & is in hospital awaiting Angiogram & after either a stent or surgery. A very worrying time that is affecting my mum's depression & my anxiety.

 

We all kind of care for each other at normal times & i help out a lot, but am not an official carer.

 

This morning i've received ESA50, perfect timing hey! So now i've got the added stress of filling that form in. I have filled it, or similar in before & not had to have a medical assessment as i guess by sending in a letter from my gp & proof of medications, they saw that as sufficient.

I just have a few questions.

 

1. Have others sent in Dr's letters & not had to go for assessments, what is the best way.

 

2. Does Honey Bee's sticky about ESA50 contain a template to follow. Because my illness is classed at Mental, i'm unsure what to write.

 

3. I am currently staying with my mum until we know more about my dad's situation, but i have a flat & when things are more on a level i spend half my time there & half with family. I'm unsure as to which one i should use as my address. My flat is part of my rehabilitation but all my correspondence goes to my family home. The benefits people know about this as my ESA adviser told them. I have also attended the interviews at mandatory JC+

 

Anxiety is awkward because there is no given day that i can say that i will be ok, so the part about days i cannot attend i don't know!!

 

Any help appreciated

 

Gaz

Edited October 24, 2013 by gazmix

[mr_mastiff]

Hi Gaz, Honey Bees is a good one to follow. I sent in a lot of information, failed won my appeal and have yet to be examined by anyone from ATOS.

 

Gaz, Have you seen a consultant with regards to your Anxiety? Are you under the care of a CPN? Discharge care plans and/or Care plans from a CPN are normally help more help than GP letters. Still send GP letter in the more information the better.

 

Gaz, Is it just an anxiety related disorder you have been diagnosed with or have you other problems.

 

I found the document below useful when filling out the esa50.

 

http://www.nawra.org.uk/Documents/Cardiff_Mar_10/Fit%20for%20Purpose%20%20A%20Guide%20to%20Completing%20the%20ESA50.pdf

 

Anxiety comes in many forms and you need to match your conditions/problems with the mental health descriptors. (see below)

 

If you are unstable at times due to your anxiety make sure it is documented both in the ESA50 also write a covering note to state that at times you are unable to attend meetings due to your condition. There are ways you can inform Atos.

 

The descriptors are in the document below

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/248826/esa214-rev-oct2013.pdf

 

If you need help wording what you need to say there are people on the forum who will help.

[gazmix]

Hi Mr_Mastiff & thanks

 

I have contacted Jobcentre+ & told them the current situation & they have told me to write a letter explaining & if they can contact me & delay having to send it in,, just a bit of breathing space.

 

I have had anxiety/GAD quite a while & it's always there or there about & especially rears its head when there is a lot on or of times of worry like the current one with my dad & benefits. I have had a cpn & seen psychiatrists etc & now on a med that works ok-ish! Just calling benefits raises my anxiety to another level.

 

I went with a friend some years ago to an atos assessment & it was overwhelmingly bad & stresssful & he had mental health problems, was visibly disturbed by it all & scored 5.

[mr_mastiff]

Gaz, when you are filling in the form you need to break each part of the day down into small bits and describe how your anxiety effects you.

 

For example I know one gentleman who when he is in an anxious state will not open letters(brown ones are worse) and hides them from his wife. The same applies to the telephone he will not answer it, sometimes even when he knows who is calling.

 

Another example would be how are you effected by meeting new people, what preparation do you need to take, if you go to a new place how do you get there, would you be able to take a bus on your own, If not why do you have problems? would it be the noise and/or too many people around you that makes you feel anxious. You need to describe what happens when you get anxious.

 

For example many people think that anxiety just means "panic attacks" . You know the classic clutching of the chest and shouting I cant breath! When in reality anxiety can lead to complete shut down physically to acts of extreme violence. So it is very important to describe how your anxiety effects you, If you have palpitations and feel sick then state that. Or if you have been in a situation that you cannot deal with and run away in total fear then state that.

 

You have also mentioned some triggers for your anxiety, I.E your dad dealing with authority. Are there any more triggers, have you ever walked out of a shop because it is too noisy or crowded, what would happen if you could not get away from something that made you anxious. I was in hospital with a man who literally went through a glass door in his anxiety.

 

Anxiety and its effects are very individual so clearly state how they effect you. Look at the descriptors and match them to your problems. Finally anxiety can be embarrassing but dont be afraid to give all details in the form the people who make judgements have probably heard of far worse.

[honeybee13]

Hi guys.

 

There's a charity website that tells you what to put on an ESA50 about mental illness, I can't remember the name of it though. Does anyone know please?

 

HB

[mr_mastiff]

Hi guys.

 

There's a charity website that tells you what to put on an ESA50 about mental illness, I can't remember the name of it though. Does anyone know please?

 

HB

 

I have been looking for it too.

 

Edited due to more information.

 

Is this the one?

 

http://www.rethink.org/living-with-mental-illness/money-issues-benefits-employment/work-capability-assessment/esa50-questionnaire

 

There is a fact sheet download about half way down the page.

Edited October 24, 2013 by mr_mastiff

[honeybee13]

Yes, that's the one. Thank you MM.

 

HB

[gazmix]

Hi

 

Yes, i will start to fill the form in tomorrow.. I'm more stressed about the 'where i live ' part is as i have a flat because it relieves me of the 'living at home at my age' anxiety, but can't always be there as i have the needing to help my family & they help me anxiety. It's all very individual as you say. If they know i have my own flat they may think i'm ok, but i still need all the help my family give & i still get their help even though i have a flat but i'm not always there... It is so very awkward!

[antone]

To address the issue of having your own flat - it should not make a difference for ESA. The mere fact that you can manage to live independently to some extent does not mean you don't have limited capability for work.

 

To answer your question 3 above, it's perfectly acceptable (for admin purposes) to have a correspondence address that is not the same as the place where you actually live. If you want to keep things straight, contact the DWP and tell them that your flat is your home address, but you'd prefer letters to be sent to the family address.

[gazmix]

Hi Antone

 

Yes my ESA adviser that i regularly see told DWP that i have a correspondence address once when i called them to ask for a proof of benefit, i told them i had a correspondence address & it all hit the fan.. Even though i'd already mentioned it in a form i'd filled in.. My benefit was stopped & the man told me i had to make a fresh claim as my situation had changed.

 

I'm going to write the letter to delay me having to return the form. Is there any specific way i should write it, pen or via pc, wordings that are appropriate etc!

 

Thanks

[Nystagmite]

It doesn't matter whether you write or pc it. I did mine on the computer. The boxes aren't big enough and I had to keep changing what I was writing.

[Helen2264]

Nystagmite, I think you might have answered my question but I am not sure? I am filling the esa50 for my friend, I've filled the form on the computer via pdf adobe acrobat after an intense week of wrecking my brain to answer those questions as possible, my brain is quite foggy at the moment and I know it will be very stressful and tiring for me to fill the esa50 form by pen and ink ensuring I do not miss anything that I've typed, I was wondering if I could just print out the form and send it to the DWP, or do I have to fill in the form by pen and ink and send them? I am keeping fingers crossed I can just send the typed filled esa50 it will save me a lot of grief can you please let me know if it's possible or if anyone else has sent their esa50 form in typing on a pc rather by writing with pen.

 

I hope I am not keep repeating myself.

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

helen

 

 

It doesn't matter whether you write or pc it. I did mine on the computer. The boxes aren't big enough and I had to keep changing what I was writing.

[antone]

You should not have a problem sending in a typed version provided it's signed after it's printed.

[Nystagmite]

I sent a printed version in with no problem.

[Helen2264]

Thank you both Antone and Nystagmite that saves me a lot of time and grief, phew! feeling relieved of course I shall make sure the form are duly signed.